Queer Voices from Japan

First Person Narratives from Japan's Sexual Minorities

Contributions by Oguiya Afu, Sunagawa Hideki, Sawbe Hitomi, Toyama Hitomi, Hirano Hiroaki, Sugita Hitoshi, Akira the Hustler, Mitsuhashi Junko, Kabiya Kazuhiko, Oikawa Kenji, Noriko Kohashi, Ochiya Kumiko, Masako Izumo Marou, Hisada Megumi, Saijo Michio, Hara Minako, Ranko, Otoki, Namiki Sansaku, Fujii Seiji, Kawakami Seiko, Morihara Taichi, Fujio Takafumi, Kondo Takashi, Otsuka Takashi, Yamamoto Tatsuo, Ujiya Tomiyoshi, Setoguchi Torao, Ueshima Tsugi, Miwa Yoko, Tsuzura Yoshiko, Yoshimura Yutaka Edited by Mark McLelland, Katsuhiko Suganuma, James Welker

Publication date:

26 March 2007

Length of book:

372 pages

Publisher

Lexington Books

Dimensions:

228x159mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9780739108659

Queer Voices from Japan examines the wide range of queer voices in Japan, and the longevity that these minority communities have enjoyed in society. Mark McLelland, Katsuhiko Suganuma, and James Welker bring together historical and contemporary narratives that contribute to the study of sexual identities in Japan. These essays trace the evolution of queer voices in Japan with analyses of the presence of homosexuality in the Japanese Imperial Army, the development of Japan's first gay bars, and same-sex experiences in the pre- and post-war periods. This book offers a variety of perspectives including a range of male-to-female and female-to-male transgender voices and experiences. The broad scope of this volume makes it an invaluable text for understanding the development of Japanese sex and gender categories in the twentieth century. Queer Voices from Japan is a compelling read that will appeal to those interested in Asian studies and human sexuality.

Chapter 1 A Visit with Yuasa Yoshiko, a Dandy Scholar of Russian Literature
Chapter 2 My Career in Danshoku: Notes on Sodomy
Chapter 3 Nostalgia for My Time in the Army: Concerning Male Nudity and Sadistic Photographs
Chapter 4 Minyak Kelapa—A Fragrant Breeze of Homosexuality
Chapter 5 Confessions of a Problem: A Round-Table Discussion with Male Prostitutes
Chapter 6 Grand Sodomia Conference: A Discussion of the Joys and Agonies of Homosexuality
Chapter 7 Lifestyles in the Gay Bars
Chapter 8 Roundtable: Female Homos Here We Go
Chapter 9 The Era of Dandy Beauties
Chapter 10 "Wakakusa no Kai": The First Fifteen Years of Japan's Originial Lesbian Organization
Chapter 11 They've Got Their Happy Faces On: The Birth of "Regumi no Gomame"
Chapter 12 Japan's Lesbian Movement: Looking Back on Where We Came From
Chapter 13 Lesbians Living in the Mountains
Chapter 14 Breaking Gender Rules without Remorse
Chapter 15 True Tales from Ni-chome
Chapter 16 Togo Ken, The Legendary Okama: Burning with Sexual Desire and Revolt
Chapter 17 Who Should be Ashamed of Whom?
Chapter 18 Reflections on the Tokyo Lesbian and Gay Parade 2000
Chapter 19 How I Became a FtM Transgender Gay
Chapter 20 My Life as a "Woman"
Chapter 21 My Life as a Hustler

With Queer Voices of Japan Mark Mclelland, James Welker, and Katsuhiko Suganuma have put together a marvelous collection of first-person accounts of queer lives since World War II which deserves to be on the reading list of every course dealing with the study of sexuality. The book offers an impressive variety of memoirs, interviews and roundtables, many of them stunning, moving, raw and original.